


A wolf in snake's clothing

by fleursowl



Series: slytherin! remus universe [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Multi, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Slow Burn, Slytherin Remus Lupin, Teen Angst, fucking live for those babies, happy ending I promise, i cant kill anyone im weak, it depends how much self control i have, lots of fluff, lots of wolfstar, marauders growing up, my baby bois, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleursowl/pseuds/fleursowl
Summary: Remus Lupin is used to having his expectations squashed- they're unrealistic. Who's ever heard of a poor, halfblood werewolf becoming Minister of Magic, after all? But Hogwarts changes this- and a rivalry with a certain Black heir changes his whole worldview. What, and more importantly who, is he willing to sacrifice in order to get to the top?(highly requested that I turn my Slytherin Remus headcanons into a proper fic so here it is! big slowburn sorry guys)this work is gifted to @girlwithacrown and @aavx bc they are always my biggest supporters even when I'm crying over writer's block- I LOVE YOU TWO SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR BLESSING MY LIFE W UR PRESENCE <3
Relationships: Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Regulus Black/James Potter, Remus Lupin/Original Male Character(s), Sirius Black/Original Male Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: slytherin! remus universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765024
Comments: 21
Kudos: 52





	A wolf in snake's clothing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [girlwithacrown](https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlwithacrown/gifts), [dontpuckwithme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontpuckwithme/gifts).



> big thanks to everyone who supported this, have ALREADY made fan art and to @aavxx aka wxlfstxrx on Tumblr for being the best beta reader anyone could ask for <3

**Remus**

Remus Lupin was an unusual boy. 

Well, no one bitten by a werewolf at a young age could really be considered ‘normal’ (not that there _were_ a lot of werewolf children- they were usually quietly put down), but Remus’ parents, who were slightly more on the eccentric side, had rather helped contribute to this unusualness. 

His father, an extremely academic and bright man, had always tried to squash his ambitions from a young age- Remus didn’t yet understand that he wouldn’t be able to achieve a lot of things others could. Positions in wizarding society were not exactly thrown at werewolves, whether they had excellent grades or not. 

However, Remus, a young boy full of hope and wonder for the world despite his hardships, simply did not listen. In fact, this discouragement hardened his want, and he nursed a private longing to become Minister of Magic that no one knew about, except for his mother, of course. His exceptionally kind and caring main confidant, always privately disagreed with Remus’ father.

  
One day after Remus had run out of the room in tears when Lyall had told him he might not be able to go to Hogwarts, she slipped into his room and sat down next to him on his bed, slipping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into her soft, warm body. 

“Why campaign for change, when you can work to put yourself in the position that makes the changes, my little Moonshine? Don’t listen to your father- he’s just worried about you. He’ll see sense and come round soon enough.”

After all, Hope Lupin had high hopes for her son, so much that she decided to forgo sending him to primary and schooled him instead. 

She taught him everything she knew, with extra help from Lyall on the wizardry side to help him get ahead on his Hogwarts studies. Hope spent many long nights reading any books around the house she could find, or that Lyall brought back for her on magic and its creatures, so she could teach Remus too. 

All in all, Remus was extremely lucky. He had two parents who cared for him massively and would move heaven and high waters for him- which was rare even for _normal_ boys, but add the fact that they had to deal with their only son transforming, against his will, into a werewolf every month and still loved him so much really added to their saintly status in Remus’ mind, especially his mother. 

This all resulted in Remus stepping onto Platform 9 3/4 smarter than half of the rest of the first years put together, but without the ability to make friends and very, very sheltered against the outside world. He saw absolutely no shame in sobbing into his mother’s cotton shirt when it came time for him to leave, his father smoothing his hand over his hair soothingly. This resulted in a few sneers from older years, but Remus didn’t notice. And even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared- he was leaving behind his best and only friends. 

However, Remus was strong- no one can go through excruciating pain once every month without having thick skin and a hardened heart. He was brimming with excitement at going to Hogwarts, meeting other people like him, and learning even more about this new and unfamiliar world he had just stepped into. 

**James**

James Potter was a very sheltered and privileged boy. Growing up, he had never wanted for anything or had to work for it- it was just given to him. Regardless, Euphemia Potter had ensured that he was still polite, bright and extremely kind- if he was a bit of a prick, well, then he’d grow out of it eventually. 

James swanned along the aisle of the train, practically trembling with excitement. His dad had told him countless stories about the amazing friends he’d made at Hogwarts, and James was extremely eager to follow in his footsteps. He spotted a fairly empty compartment with just a small, mousy haired boy sitting in it, and slipped inside, beaming at the boy and offering him his hand so enthusiastically he almost slapped him in the face. 

“I’m James Potter, and I’m gunna be in Gryffindor? just like my dad.” he grinned, shaking the other boy’s hand heartily and practically ripping his arm from his socket. 

The smaller boy squeaked, wide eyes looking at James in awe.

“I’m Peter- Peter Pettigrew. I… don’t know what house I’ll be in? Maybe, maybe Hufflepuff?” the boy stuttered, eyes widening even more when James scoffed, shaking his head.

“Nah mate, that’s a house for stoners and nancies.” he declared proudly, not knowing what either of these things were, but instead directly quoting his father teasing his mother over dinner. Peter let out a nervous laugh, nodding.

“Well, if you say so. So Gryffindor is the best house, then?” he asked, but before James could reply, another boy glided into the compartment.

“Hear, hear.” the boy drawled, a smirk tugging the corner of his lip. “Gryffindor for the win.”

Peter didn’t respond and had resorted to melting into his seat to get further away from the intimidating newcomer, but James turned to him with a brilliant grin.

“Finally, someone with sense. And you are?” 

“Sirius… Sirius Black.” the boy said more shortly, and James felt his smile fall a little. _Black._ He recognised that name, and it seemed Peter did too, judging from his squeak of terror.

Sirius huffed, eyes darting between the two boys definitely, and he shook his head quickly. “I’m not like the rest of my family. I’m going to be in _Gryffindor._ ” He said firmly, looking at the two other boys and daring them to disagree with him.

“Alright then, that’s good enough for me.” James said, his grin lighting his face up once again. 

“James Potter. Soon-to-be Gryffindor. And this is Peter Pettigrew, he’s a bit shy.” James said, nodding at Peter in the corner. Sirius nodded, but before he could respond the boys were yet again disturbed by another. James looked at the newcomer curiously- he’d never seen anyone like him before. The boy was amber-eyed, with dozens of mysterious silver scars littering his exposed skin, a pink one running across the bridge of his nose. 

Something about him just caught James’ eye, and as he sat down next to Sirius, James was struck with how similarly striking yet extremely different the boys looked next to each other. 

“James?” Sirius prompted with a raised eyebrow, and James realised he had ignored Remus’ introduction while lost in his own thoughts. 

“Oh, sorry mate, I’m James Potter.” he said, sticking his hand out. Remus’ hand felt oddly warm and calloused in his cool, soft one. 

“What house do you think you’ll be in?” Peter squeaked out, but Sirius interrupted. 

“Merlin, anything but Slytherin. I would rather die,” he said harshly, and James laughed.

“Agreed,” he said firmly, and Peter nodded along eagerly, but Remus stayed quiet.

“What’s wrong with Slytherin?” he asked, a frown on his face. 

“Cause they’re all… the worst! My dad says every bad witch or wizard ever came from Slytherin.” James cried passionately. Sirius nodded gravely, a sardonic smile on his face.

“Can confirm that- my whole family has been in Slytherin. Patterns are reliable.”

“But- just because all the bad witches and wizards have been in Slytherin, doesn’t mean that every witch and wizard in Slytherin is going to be bad .” Remus reasoned wisely, though a little bewildered. “The house of Slytherin values being ambitious, which I think’s a good thing. I, for one, wanna become the Minister of Magic someday.” He declared proudly, his Welsh accent thick in his passionate speech. 

The other boys sat and stared at him in shocked silence, their brains processing this new information. Luckily the trolley witch came knocking on their door before the silence could get awkward, and they spent the rest of the train journey trading stories about their first signs of magic and scoffing chocolate that James had insisted on buying for them all. 

**Remus**

Hogwarts was better than anything Remus could’ve possibly hoped for.

It was better than the photos, the illustrations, the images he had conjured up in his imagination and dreamt about almost every night- it was the pure essence of magic, the very root of the word. 

His breath was knocked from his lungs when the castle drew into sight, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes, overcome with emotion. 

“Hey, you alright mate?” Peter asked, knocking him with his elbow. Remus wiped his eyes hurriedly with his cloak sleeve, nodding. 

“Yeah. I’m fine, just got some wind in my eyes, is all.” Peter gave him a knowing look but said nothing more, which Remus greatly appreciated. 

The sorting ceremony was nothing like any of them had ever seen. Remus had never seen so many _people,_ and they were all confined into one glorious, magical place. His palms began to sweat slightly- he had never been a people person, and the thought of standing up in front of them all and taking the long walk to the stool made him want to throw up. He turned to the side and saw that Sirius was wearing a similar expression, and squeezed his hand slightly as his mother did to him to comfort him in public. Sirius jumped and turned to him in surprise, but before he could speak, his name was called by McGonagall, and he turned back to the front, swallowing nervously. Remus watched the pale boy walk shakily up to the stool, and held his breath along with the rest of the hall as he waited. And waited. Sirius’s face was screwed up in concentration as if he was having a conversation- or battle- with his conscience. 

Eventually, the hat roared “Gryffindor!” and there was a moment of shocked silence, before James broke it by whooping loudly, clapping jovially, and the rest of the hall joined in. Remus watched Sirius’ expression as he glanced over to the Slytherin table on his way to the Gryffindors, and winced when he heard the jeers and hisses. Hopefully, his sorting wouldn’t be as dramatic. 

After what seemed like an eternity, finally Remus’ name was called out. He walked up to the stool with trembling knees and clenched fists, sitting down on it heavily.

_‘Oh, hello. It’s not every day I see one of you.’ A_ disembodied voice spoke, and Remus nearly fell off the chair. 

_‘Don’t worry, no one else can hear. Your secret is quite safe with me.’_ The voice said again, which wasn’t exactly reassuring. Was Remus going mad?

_‘Right then, let’s see. A very sharp mind, yes, full of wit and a keenness to learn. But also very kind, and loyal. And in addition to this, brave and daring! My my, you have a strong mind.’_

‘Ummm… thank you?’ Remus thought, a little bewildered. 

_‘But ah, what’s this? Minister of Magic, you say?’_

Remus sat up a little straighter in excitement, nodding eagerly. 

‘I’ll do anything to get there.’ he thought eagerly.

_‘Well then, that settles it. Has to be…_

_“Slytherin!”_ the hat yelled, and Remus hopped off the stool. He wasn’t sure how long he had been on there, but it felt like ages. The Slytherin table eyed him speculatively, then burst into applause, accepting this scrawny, scared little boy into their midst. Remus hurried over gratefully, sitting down next to a girl he had seen on the train with a shy smile.

Eventually, James and Peter were both sorted into Gryffindor, which didn’t come as a surprise, but he was a little disappointed that the people he thought he’d be friends with had ended up in separate houses. Still, friendships could be formed in any circumstances, Remus thought firmly. He sat up a little straighter, craning over the crowd to try and spot them, and waved at James with a smile when he did. 

James glanced at him and then looked back at his plate quickly, looking uncomfortable. 

Sirius levelled him with a strong gaze, whispering something in James’ ear whilst still retaining eye contact with Remus, and the bespectacled boy snorted into his pumpkin juice, looking back over at Remus again. 

Remus looked away with flushed cheeks, slouching in his seat and feeling humiliation and disappointment curdling in his stomach. 

_‘It doesn’t matter. You aren’t here to make friends, you’re here to learn, to gain knowledge, to gain power_ . _To prove to everyone that you can achieve the impossible.’_ Remus thought firmly, and pushed any thoughts of a brilliant friendship to the back of his mind.

It seemed Hogwarts would be a journey that he was going to have to take alone.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos, comments and constructive criticism/feedback highly appreciated <3  
> for more news, updates and general marauders era shenanigans, go check out my insta @fleursowl_ and Tumblr @fleursowl <3


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